


Growing Up is Hard to Do

by BexYZ



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Eventual Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Pregnancy issues, Reunions, Weddings, it's a lot and idk how to tag, new relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-16 22:41:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28714452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BexYZ/pseuds/BexYZ
Summary: Mostly focused on Troy, Abed, and Annie and all of the ups and downs of adulting with special appearances by the rest of the study group. (Mature rating is for later chapters)
Relationships: Annie Edison/Abed Nadir, Troy Barnes/Original Male Character(s)
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Troy

Troy sat sipping a beer in a dimly lit bar in San Francisco. It was a fairly quiet night with about half of the bar stools taken and a few groups chatting loudly in booths. One group stood out, ironically due to their lack of noise. There were four guys around his age huddled in a corner booth, whispering, and pointing in his direction. Well, three of them were whispering and one of them was shielding his face from Troy’s view, visibly embarrassed by his friends’ lack of social boundaries and trying to hush them up. 

Troy had gotten used to attention when he was out, especially once he’d come to terms with the fact that he liked men and he was okay with that. It hadn’t been an easy few months as he worked through those revelations, but he was now happier than he’d been in a long time. Either way, he wasn’t worried about a few random looks from some guys he’d never see again. He could barely believe it, but he was only a day away from seeing his two best friends again in Los Angeles. He smiled to himself as he reread their group chat which had blown up the second he was back in service range. 

_Group - Trobedison_

_Troy: guys...im coming home!!! i will be in LA on Sat!!_

_Annie: AHHHHHH!!!!! TROY!! <3 <3 <3_

_Abed: Cool! What time will you get here? Do you need a ride? You can stay with us, obviously._

_Annie: Yes, I’ll get the extra bedroom ready! :)_

_Troy: it’ll be some time in the evening...probably 7 or 8?_

_Troy: i can get an uber_

_Abed: We can come get you. We’ll grab some food on the way home and we can watch a movie if you feel up to it._

_Annie: I can’t wait!!_

_Troy: me either...I’ll ttysoon <3 _

“Good news?” A quiet, unfamiliar voice interrupted his reverie. Troy looked up from his phone to see the shy man he’d noticed earlier in the night. “I don’t mean to intrude,” he added, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “My friends, if you hadn’t noticed, are a bit overbearing. I thought...uh. Well, I just mentioned that I thought you were cute and they have since insisted I come and buy you a drink.”

Troy looked at the man more closely now that his face wasn’t obscured by his own hands. He was cute in a Clark Kent sort of way. Strong bone structure softened by the thick black frames he wore. Intelligent-looking green eyes reflected the dim light over the bar. He had on a plaid button down shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His forearms were muscular enough that it looked like he worked out regularly but his shirt was loose as if he didn’t want anybody to know about it. Overall, Troy liked what he saw.

“So you’re only offering me a drink to get your friends off your back?” he teased, a bit pleased when he saw the other man’s face flush.

“To be fair, the drink was my idea. Their suggestions were far more crude,” he rolled his eyes but smiled fondly as if he was used to his friends’ antics. “My name is Ben, by the way,” the man said, reaching out a hand.

“Troy,” he replied, shaking Ben’s hand firmly.

“What can I get you, Troy?” 

“Another of these would be great,” he said, lifting up the bottle he was drinking from.

Ben motioned to the bartender to bring two more beers before continuing. “When I came up, you looked pretty happy. Did you get some good news? If that’s not too personal to ask.”

“No, I’m just in a good mood. I’ve been away for a while and I’m going to see my best friends tomorrow. I’m headed for LA in the morning.”

Troy talked about taking the last few years to travel, skipping over the part about his old, dead, racist friend that he met in community college leaving him millions of dollars if (and only if) he took a world tour on a boat with LeVar Burton. That seemed like too much for a first drink conversation. Ben talked about his job as a teacher at a local elementary school and Troy thought he looked especially adorable when he was talking about helping kids.

Over the course of the night, Troy told Ben about his favorite tv shows, about some of his favorite places he visited, and about his best friends getting ready to get married later this year and how he knew he had to get back in time for the event. Ben told Troy about his crazy friends that he had known since middle school, about the best movies from the past year that Troy had missed while out at sea, and about how excited he was to be an uncle because his sister was going to have a baby any day now.

Troy had visited a lot of places and met a lot of people in the past few years, but none of them had been as easy to talk to as Ben. They found an easy comfort with each other, punctuating sentences with a hand on the other’s hand or shoulder or knee. If he was meeting up with anyone other than Abed and Annie tomorrow, Troy would have been very disappointed to be leaving in the morning. 

A few hours later, Ben threaded his fingers between Troy’s and looked up at him nervously. “It’s getting kind of late, but I’d love to see you again if you think you’ll ever be back in town? Can I give you my number?” he added hopefully.

Troy grinned and handed his phone over for Ben to enter in his information. When he passed it back, Troy hit the call button and Ben’s phone buzzed from where it sat on the bar. “There, now neither of us have an excuse not to call,” Troy said as they both slid off of their bar stools. 

Ben flushed again but took the leap and leaned forward to kiss Troy on the cheek. “It was very nice to meet you, Troy,” he whispered near Troy’s ear. 

“Yes, definitely, same here,” Troy stuttered as Ben walked back to his friends, looking back to give Troy a smile and a wave. His friends all “ooh”-ed and “aah”-ed and shoved Ben with their shoulders until his ears turned red and he muttered, “Oh, shut up,” at all of them through a grin. Troy wore a matching one all the way back to the boat.  
___  
Less than 24 hours later, Troy had bid a tearful goodbye to LeVar (the tears were one-sided, but the affection was mutual) and saw two familiar figures at the end of the pier. 

“TROY!!!” the smaller of the two figures called as she ran towards him. He grabbed Annie mid-leap and swung her around in a big circle, squeezing her breathless as Abed jogged up behind her. 

Abed and Troy grinned at each other, slapped out their handshake for the first time in years, and then hugged each other tightly as Annie looked on, happy tears streaming down her face.

“I missed you guys. So. Much,” Troy said, as the guys grabbed Annie back in for a group hug. 

“We missed you too, Troy,” Abed said, his voice muffled into Troy’s shoulder. “Let’s get you home.”

They grabbed some Chinese takeout on the way back to Abed and Annie’s apartment and sat on the floor eating straight out of their own (and each other’s) cartons. Troy grabbed Annie’s hand to look at her engagement ring, complimented Abed on his choice, and officially congratulated them in person. If Troy had been happy when the two had gotten together and Annie had transferred from Washington to LA, he was ecstatic when he’d learned of the engagement. He was glad his two closest friends had found happiness with each other, even if part of him wished he had someone special himself. He was surprised when his thoughts drifted to a pair of green eyes behind a pair of thick-rimmed glasses. He filed that thought away for later.

The three stayed up until very early in the morning swapping stories and updating each other on all of the things they hadn’t been able to fit into text messages and emails. It wasn’t until Annie fell asleep with her hand in the popcorn bowl and knocked half a bag out onto the floor that they decided they could probably continue in the morning. 

Troy was settling into the guest bed and plugging his phone into his charger when he saw an unopened text message from earlier in the night. It was from Ben. He knew it was an ungodly hour, but he couldn’t help answering immediately.

_Ben: I hope you had a good time with your friends today :)_

_Troy: i did...they are great. you are too so i bet you guys would get along_

Troy didn’t expect an answer given the time, so he was surprised to see three flashing dots indicating Ben was typing back.

_Ben: I’d like to meet them. Or really any reason to see you again. ;)_

_Troy: id like that too...now get some sleep! Lol_

_Ben: Haha...yes sir_

Troy felt his face heat up at Ben’s response. That was something to examine when he wasn’t totally exhausted. Ben seemed to like emojis, so he chanced one on his last message.

_Troy: good night, Ben <3_

_Ben: Good night, Troy <3 _


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Abed has a bachelor party, Annie drunk texts, and everyone is adorable.

Chapter 2 - Abed

“Abed? Buddy? How much have you had to drink?”

“Excessive alcohol consumption and strippers are staples in all media representations of bachelor parties. Annie said we couldn’t have strippers, so I’m going all in with alcohol.”

Troy snorted. “Maybe not as much as I thought if that’s your answer.”

“The answer is eight by the way,” Abed added after the current round of poker finished up.

“Eight what?”

“Eight drinks. Maybe closer to seven and a half. Three beers, those four shots you and Jeff made us do, and I finished off Craig’s last appletini when he got distracted by that girl in the thigh-high boots at the bar,” Abed explained as he shuffled the cards for the next hand.

“To be fair,” Troy replied, “those boots were pretty awesome and would go really well with his go-go costume. And she apparently got a great deal on them.”

Abed’s bachelor party had been a rousing success thus far. He was thankful that his friends had been able to travel to LA a few days before the wedding. The girls had an elaborate plan to take Annie out on the town while he and the guys (Troy, Troy’s boyfriend Ben, Jeff, Craig, Pavel, Karl, and Duncan) hit a few of the local bars and then retired to Troy’s penthouse apartment for poker, movies, and more drinks. 

Abed, Jeff, and Craig were all doing surprisingly well with the game. Jeff played a lot of poker back in his lawyer days and could easily bluff without giving too much away. Abed had always had great observational skills and an ability to keep a straight face through the most unusual of situations. And Craig had dumb luck and enough appletinis that he regularly forgot which hands were better than others, meaning nobody could accurately call his bluffs including himself.

Around midnight, they moved to Troy’s home theater. Abed had requested _Raiders of the Lost Ark_. As happy as he was, there were a lot of changes happening in his life and it was nice to have something familiar and comforting to enjoy. 

Abed settled into the comfortable chair and his thoughts drifted to Annie. When Troy had left for his voyage toward manhood and millions of dollars, Abed felt like he had been torn apart. Annie had helped put him back together. She had been the only one who really understood what they were missing with Troy gone and she loved him almost as much as Abed did. They had both tried to distract themselves from their pain and from their confusing feelings for each other with the Save Greendale Committee, with Jeff and Rachel, and with countless other projects, paintball games, and plans for the future. But Abed had realized, as he walked her to her airport terminal and watched her board her flight to DC, that he couldn’t let her go that easily.

They started with constant texting, far more than with any of their other friends from Greendale. Then had come the weekly phone calls. When those weren’t enough, video calls and scraping together money for visits when their schedules allowed, finally ending up with Annie moving across the country to the FBI’s LA office and into Abed’s arms.

Abed felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, pulled it out, and smiled.

_Annie: Heyy fiance! <3 hows your partyy?_

_Abed: it's good...we’re watching Raiders. Looks like you’re having fun lol_

_Annie: whats that supposd to mean/?_

_Abed: just saying...i thought i was drunk but i think you’re beating me_

_Annie: whatever….i just wanted to say i loooove youuu and i cant wait to marry you_

_Annie: britta says shes gonna take my phone if i dont sotp txting you_

_Abed: I love you too...sleep well princess_

_Annie: <33 _

Abed looked up and realized that the room was too quiet. Troy had paused the movie and he, Ben, and Jeff were all staring at him. The others had all passed out in their comfortable chairs.

“You weren’t even paying attention to the Nazi boat chase!” Troy said. 

“Is she having fun?” Ben teased. “You have your goofy Annie face.”

“I do not have a goofy Annie face.”

“You’re right. Your face is always goofy,” Jeff added. “But seriously. It’s almost as bad as Troy’s Ben face.”

“Oh no...seriously? That’s pretty bad. I apologize.”

“One: It’s cute. Two: I’m also cute so y’all shut up. Three: Ben is cute so I’ll look at him however I want.”

“I’m going to gag,” Jeff said standing up. “But in all seriousness, we probably should get some sleep. Let’s see if we can drag these guys to some beds or at least recline their chairs.” He motioned at the other men in various levels of snoring and drooling around the media room.

Half an hour later, Abed flopped into the soft queen bed in one of Troy’s guest bedrooms. He fell asleep dreaming of a beautiful brunette beside him fighting Blorgons and Nazis and evil doppelgangers before riding off into the sunset together. He’d had much worse dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a cutesy little chapter because I think Troy and Jeff trying to throw Abed a bachelor party would be hilarious.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some high highs and some low lows.
> 
> Content warning: pregnancy loss

Chapter 3 - Annie and Troy

Part 1 - Annie

Though she regretted the intensely throbbing headache the next morning, Annie’s bachelorette party had been one of the best nights of her life. That record only lasted three days.

She woke up that Saturday disoriented. The bed was empty but she couldn’t hear the usual sounds of Abed showering or rustling around in the kitchen. Then she remembered; Abed had stayed with Troy and Ben last night because he couldn’t see her today.

It was their wedding day.

She knew the groom wasn't supposed to see the bride. Abed had been very insistent on this point, giving an exhaustive list of all the references he could find in tv and movies before Annie gave in. He had already told her he wasn't answering her calls either, but she couldn't resist checking in before the big moment. She texted Ben, whom she'd gotten very close to over the past few months. It was nice to have company when Troy and Abed were busy being Troy-and-Abed.

_Annie: How's he holding up?_

_Ben: Abed? Or Troy?_

_  
_

_Annie: Oh dear…_

__

_Ben: Abed seems okay. A little antsy, but we brought some of his fidget cubes and stuff from your place and they seem to be helping._

__

_Ben: Troy was alternating between practicing his best man speech and hysterical happy tears until Abed told him he would make him stay home if he didn't stop._

_  
_

_Annie: Did he stop?_

__

_Ben: Sort of. He's at least limiting his crying to the bathroom. We just turn the volume up on the TV when that happens._

__

_Annie: Good luck, Ben. Thanks for taking care of our boys._

__

_Ben: Nowhere else I'd rather be. See you soon. At your WEDDING!!!_

__

_Annie: !!!!!!! <3_  
___  
People had been telling her for weeks that the details wouldn’t matter. That the most important part was that no matter what, at the end of the day, she and Abed would be married. Detail-oriented Annie struggled to believe any of this and had carried her lace-and-ribbon trimmed binder with her everywhere for the last six months.

By the end of the night, she finally believed them. She knew that she would forget so many of the things that happened. It was all too fast and wonderful and overwhelming. But she also knew that there were certain moments that would blaze in her memory forever….

Leaning in with Britta and Shirley to take a selfie in the middle of getting ready, giggling hysterically over something they wouldn’t remember in the morning.

Abed’s face when she started down the aisle. The way the room was full of people and he was smiling at her the way he did when it was just the two of them. That special soft expression that was only for her.

Dancing with her best friends at the reception, being passed between Troy and Craig and Ben and Jeff until she finally landed in the familiar arms of her husband.

Driving away to their hotel waving to their friends. Jeff giving a genuine smile with no hint of cynicism. Britta linking arms with him, a grin on her face. Shirley hugging her boys and straightening their bow ties. Troy, tears streaming down his face as Ben kissed his forehead and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket.

The look in Abed's eyes as they finally dropped their bags on the floor of their hotel room and closed the door behind them.

Some things you can never forget.  
___  
Part 2 - Troy

"Hey, babe! It's almost time!"

"Coming!" Ben called as he raced down the stares to join Troy in front of the computer.

The group tried to have monthly video calls but they had missed the last one due to some work conflicts people had. It had been six months since they'd all been together in person for the holidays and almost a year and a half since Annie and Abed's wedding. Troy couldn't believe how fast the last two years on dry land had passed. 

"Hey guys!" Annie's voice said through the laptop speakers.

Squares popped up on Troy's screen. One with Annie and Abed squeezed in together, one with Shirley waving, one with Jeff leaning back in his chair, and one with a close up of Britta's cat who was currently walking across her keyboard as she tried to move him off her table.

"I'm sure you're wondering why we've called you all here," Abed began, fingers steepled in front of his chest.

"You didn't call us," Jeff rolled his eyes. "It's been on our calendar since February."

"But Abed and I do have news for everyone," Annie continued. "We..well…"

"Annie's pregnant!?" Shirley squealed.

Annie nodded and the computer erupted with squeals and screams of congratulations. Abed took her hand and smiled the largest smile Troy had ever seen on his face. It only took one look in his eyes for Troy to see how totally content his best friend was.

"Abed! I can't believe you didn't tell me!" 

"We were trying to wait until after Annie got out of the first trimester, but we are a little early. We knew we were having this call tonight and didn't want to wait until next month to share the good news."

"When are you due, Annie?" Britta asked, cats finally contained to her living room.

"Sometime in late January. I'm about nine weeks along."

"Congratulations, you guys. I'm available for babysitting any time I'm in LA, for up to thirty minute intervals," Jeff joked. "But in all seriousness, we are all so happy for you."

Everyone nodded and cheered again as Annie blushed and Abed kissed her temple. The rest of the call was much less exciting but equally as enjoyable. Troy hung up an hour and a half later feeling rejuvenated. There was nothing better than family.  
___  
Three weeks later, the phone rang.

"Abed? What's up? I thought you had to work this weekend…."

Ben looked up from his lesson plans to listen in.

"Oh shit."

Ben stood up, watching Troy's face.

"Fuck! Is she okay? ...Are you okay?...Of course. Yeah...yeah. We're on the way."

Ben started throwing clothes in a duffle bag, fearing the worst. 

"Don't worry about that. We're coming. We'll be there in an hour...I'm so sorry, Abed. Love you. See you soon."

Ben walked up to Troy as he dropped his phone on the table, a questioning look in his eyes.

"Yeah," Troy muttered in a strangled sounding voice and grabbing him into a tight hug. "They lost the baby."  
___  
Fifty-seven minutes later, Troy and Ben let themselves into Annie and Abed's apartment with their spare key. Abed got up from his chair in front of the television to meet them.

"Hi guys. Thanks for coming," he said, his voice sounding dull and manufactured. "Can I get you something to drink?"

Troy wanted nothing more than to run up and hug his best friend, but he knew Abed might not be in a touchy mood. He settled for trying to break through the false calm Abed had put himself in. Troy had seen Abed in plenty of rough spots but he'd never seen him like this.

"Where's Annie?" he asked gently.

"She's resting in the bedroom, but she's probably awake at this point."

Troy found Ben's eyes, they both nodded, and Ben headed for the master bedroom to check on Annie. Troy led Abed back to the living room where Inspector Spacetime was still playing. Abed hadn't even paused the show when they arrived.

They watched the rest of the episode together in silence, Troy watching his friend out of the corner of his eye as they shared the couch. As the credits began to roll, Troy leaned across Abed to find the remote and pause the tv.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, Troy," he answered without breaking his gaze from the list of cast and crew on the screen.

"F-I- or F-Y-?" Troy asked.

Abed didn't answer. He didn't really have to.

"How are you really?" Troy asked again. 

Abed swallowed before turning to look in Troy's direction. He couldn't meet his eyes, but it was a start.

"It was so scary. I didn't know what was going to happen. I was afraid I might lose Annie too, it just looked so bad."

Troy took a chance and reached out to hold Abed's hand. He didn't move except to tighten his grip back on Troy's fingers.

"It's like I've lost a whole life that I never even got to live. All of the things we thought we would do."

Troy felt tears welling up in his eyes but knew of all the times in his life he had wanted to cry, this was the one where he had to hold it together.

Abed finally met Troy's eyes. "This wasn't supposed to happen."

Silent tears started to fall down the taller man's face and Troy felt his heart breaking in his chest.

"I ran all of the simulations."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ughhh...so sorry for the sad ending to this chapter but that scene came to me and is literally the reason I started this fic in the first place...I'm hoping that writing it will get it out of my brain.
> 
> I'll post happier things soon for all of our sakes.
> 
> Comments/virtual hugs please?

**Author's Note:**

> Trying out some new styles and ideas and stuffs. I've had ideas for this for a while and they just won't go away, so here we go... *crosses fingers that this all works*
> 
> Comments/constructive criticism(/attention) always welcome!


End file.
